Can't Blame a Girl for Trying (song)

"Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" is the debut single by American singer Sabrina Carpenter from her debut extended play of the same name (2014), served as the opening track of the EP. The track appears at her debut studio album, Eyes Wide Open, served as the second track of the record. The song was produced by Brian Malouf and written by Meghan Trainor, Al Anderson and Chris Gelbuda. The song was released by Hollywood Records as the lead single from Can't Blame a Girl for Trying on March 14, 2014 onto iTunes and was premiered a day before exclusively on Radio Disney. "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" is a midtempo pop folk song with influences of pop music backed by an acoustic guitar. Lyrically, the song speaks about being foolish in love and making mistakes, but never blaming those who make them. According to Carpenter, the song perfectly describes a thirteen-year-old girl and a teenage girl.

"Can't Blame a Girl for Trying"
Single by Sabrina Carpenter
from the EP Can't Blame a Girl for Trying and the album Eyes Wide Open
ReleasedMarch 14, 2014 (2014-03-14)
Recorded2013
Genre
Length2:49
LabelHollywood
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Sabrina Carpenter singles chronology
"Can't Blame a Girl for Trying"
(2014)		 "The Middle of Starting Over"
(2014)
Music video
"Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" on YouTube

It was accompanied by a music video directed by Kinga Burza premiered on her Vevo channel on March 28, 2014. The song won a Radio Disney Music Award in the category "Best Crush Song" in 2015.

Background and recording

"Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" was written in 2012 by Meghan Trainor, Al Anderson and Chris Gelbuda. Trainor first performed the song at Durango Songwriter's Expo in 2012.[1] Later, Meghan shared a video at her official Facebook account about the song, but it was later removed.[2] In 2013, Carpenter received the role of Maya Hart in the Disney Channel series Girl Meets World and she signed a record deal with Hollywood Records.[3] In the same year, Trainor gave the song to Carpenter and Brian Malouf produced the track. The song was the first to be recorded to her first EP. "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" was released as the debut single of Carpenter's career at 14 March 2014 onto iTunes and was premiered a day before exclusively on Radio Disney.[4] The song was also included on Carpenter's first studio album, Eyes Wide Open, which was released on April 14, 2015.[5]

The song was recorded somewhere in 2013 and was produced by Brian Malouf.[6] Malouf mixed the track at Cookie Jar Recording, located in Sherman Oaks, California and Chris Thompson engineered the track.[6] In the track, Malouf played keyboards and Jim McGorman play acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass and glockenspiel.[6] Malouf programmed the drums and McGorman handled the hand percussion.[6] The song was mastered by Eric Boulanger at The Mastering Lab, Inc., located in Ojai, California.[6]

Composition and lyrical interpretation

Musically, "Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying" is a two minutes and forty-nine seconds acoustic guitar-driven midtempo folk pop song with pop influences. In terms of music notation, "Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying" was composed using 4
4 common time in the key of C major, with a moderately fast tempo of 144 beats per minute.[7] The song follows the chord progression of C–Dm7-Am-F in the verses and C-Caug-C6-C7-F-Fm in the chorus and Carpenter's vocal range spans from the low note A3 to the high note of F5, giving the song one octaves and five notes of range.[7] The tempo has a Swing feel.[7] Lyrically, the song speaks about being foolish in love and making mistakes, but never blaming those who make them. According to Carpenter the song "perfectly describes a thirteen year-old girl and a teenage girl."[8]

Music video

Background and release

The music video was directed by Kinga Burza and it was premiered on Vevo and YouTube on March 28, 2014.[9] The behind the scenes of the music video was premiered on May 23, 2014 in the same platforms.[10] A lyric video was premiered on YouTube on July 18, 2014 and it features various scenes of her behind the scenes music video, her photoshoots, her live performance on Disney Playlist Sessions and her Disney Channel events.[11]

Synopsis

You can mess up a lot and you can fail a lot of times, but when it come to the end of the day, you just have to embrace who you are and just love it and having fun because there's nothing better than being yourself.

— Carpenter in the behind the scenes of "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" music video.

The video begins with Carpenter sleeping in her bed, next to her bed there is a bedside table with an alarm clock with books underneath, a lamp and a glass of water. Her alarm clock rings, but when she turns it off, her alarm clock turns into a cactus. Scared, Carpenter takes her hand off and hits the glass that falls on the floor. She gets up, but when she gets up she watered the foot and then the water turns into glitter. She wears her robe and makes up her bed, while she was tidying up her bed she pushes a sheet and turns it into a table towel. The next scene shows Carpenter in a red dress spinning to sit on a chair, but instead of sitting on a chair, she sits on a couch. Leaving a door, Carpenter takes off the dress she was wearing at the last scene and it shows a shirt with jeans behind it; She sits down on the couch and starts playing several "instruments" like a guitar, a tennis racket and an ukulele.

When she ends up singing the first chorus, it shows a scene when she was tying her Converse in her bedroom, she leaves the chair she was sitting and her Converse turns into roller skates; later, in the final scene of the video, she falls and takes off the curtains and drops in her bed. Carpenter opens an umbrella at home and when she opens the umbrella, she appears outside the house spinning the umbrella near to an orange tree. She appears using a bunch of hats, sunglasses and making fruit as objects. One of the last scenes is Carpenter answering a phone call but the phone turns into a banana. In all the video, it shows a scene where Carpenter is sitting and singing the song.

Critical reception

Michelle McGahan of PopCrush called the video "a perfect introduction to the star, who is adorably goofy in the sweet vid for the upbeat song. Carpenter shows off her feminine side with loose blonde waves and a barrage of silly ensembles that she dresses up in throughout the video. But she also shows off her musicianship, playing both the acoustic guitar and ukelele (and even a tennis racket) while singing her heart out."[12]

Critical reception

Monique Melendez of Billboard pointed the relatability of the song by saying: "[...] the lyrics cross the generational gap with their relatability, with lyrics like "Here I am again, the same old situation / Why does the guy thing have to be so complicated."[13] Anna Marie of A Kid's Point of You said "The EP kicks off with the title track / hit single , “Can’t Blame A Girl For Trying.” Flawless vocals, an undeniably sophisticated edge, and an effortless ability to inspire listeners makes this song a feel-good anthem (not to mention the adorable music video). This is a cute song about an innocent love story, and it speaks to the girls who make mistakes, but keep trying."[14] Dolph Malone of Headline Planet said "Valuable from a marketing standpoint, the inclusion of two Meghan Trainor co-writes is even more valuable from a musical standpoint. “Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying” and “Darling I’m a Mess,” those songs, possess the same self-awareness and same intimate, conversational approach that fuels Trainor’s own hits."[15]

Live performances

Carpenter first performed the song at the 2014 Radio Disney Music Awards along with "The Middle of Starting Over".[16] A few time later, she performed on City at BT Studio where she was wearing a blue dress.[17] She performed an acoustic version of the song on Perez TV along with "The Middle of Starting Over".[18] She performed the song at D23 Expo in 2015 along with "Take on the World", "We'll Be the Stars", a cover of "FourFiveSeconds", "The Middle of Starting Over" and "Eyes Wide Open".[19] In 2016, Carpenter performed the song on the Honda Stage at the iHeartRadio Theater LA along with some covers and songs from his first and second album.[20] The song was part of her debut headline tour, being the sixth song to be performed.[21] The song was included on The De-Tour being the eleventh song to be performed.[22]

Credits and personnel

Recording and management

  • Mixed at Cookie Jar Recording (Sherman Oaks, California)
  • Mastered at The Mastering Lab, Inc. (Ojai, California)
  • Year of the Dog Music (ASCAP), a division of Big Yellow Dog, LLC administered by Words & Music; International Dog Music (BMI), a division of Big Yellow Dog, LLC/Bucked Up Music (BMI), administered by Words & Music; National Dog Music (SESAC), a division of Big Yellow Dog, LLC administered by Words & Music

Personnel

Credits adapted from Eyes Wide Open liner notes.[6]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Result Ref.
2015 Radio Disney Music Awards "XOXO – Best Crush Song" Won [23]

Release history
Country Date Format Ref.
United States March 13, 2014 Radio Disney [4]
Worldwide March 14, 2014 Digital download [4]

References
  1. "Meghan Trainor & Al Anderson "Can't Blame A Girl For Trying" 2012 DURANGO Songwriter's Expo/SB". YouTube. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  2. "NEW VIDEO!!! Can't Blame a Girl for Trying: written by Meghan, Chris Gelbuda and "Big Al" Anderson, who are all writers for Big Yellow Dog Music". Facebook. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  3. Hibberd, James (January 31, 2013). "'Boy Meets World' spin-off casts Riley's best friend". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  4. "Check Out Sabrina Carpenter's New Single "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying"". Fanlala.com. March 15, 2014. Archived from the original on March 17, 2014. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  5. ""Eyes Wide Open" by Sabrina Carpenter". iTunes. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  6. Eyes Wide Open liner notes [CD] Hollywood Records (2015)
  7. "Sabrina Carpenter "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" Sheet Music in C Major". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  8. "Sabrina Carpenter - Sabrina Chats "Eyes Wide Open"". YouTube. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  9. "Sabrina Carpenter - Can't Blame a Girl for Trying (Official Video)". YouTube. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  10. "Sabrina Carpenter - Can't Blame a Girl for Trying (Behind the Scenes)". YouTube. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  11. "Sabrina Carpenter - Can't Blame a Girl for Trying (Official Lyric Video)". YouTube. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  12. McGahan, Michelle. "Sabrina Carpenter's 'Can't Blame a Girl for Trying' Video". PopCrush. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  13. "6 Songs You Didn't Know Meghan Trainor Wrote". Billboard. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  14. "Music Review: Can't Blame A Girl For Trying (EP)". YouTube. August 25, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  15. "Sabrina Carpenter is the Right Kind of Great on "Eyes Wide Open;" Review". Headline Planet. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  16. "Sabrina Carpenter performing "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" at the Radio Disney Music Awards 2014". YouTube. April 27, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  17. "Sabrina Carpenter - Can't Blame a Girl for Trying on BT Studio City". YouTube. August 25, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  18. "Sabrina Carpenter - "Can't Blame A Girl For Trying" (Exclusive Perez Hilton Acoustic)". YouTube. September 15, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  19. "Sabrina Carpenter D23 Performance". YouTube. August 16, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  20. "Sabrina Carpenter - Can't Blame a Girl (Live on the Honda Stage at the iHeartRadio Theater LA)". YouTube. October 14, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  21. "Sabrina Carpenter Setlist at Rocketown, Nashville, TN, USA". Setlist.fm. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  22. "Sabrina Carpenter Setlist at House of Blues, Boston, MA, USA". Setlist.fm. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  23. "Radio Disney Music Awards Winners". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
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